NAVI part ways with Turkish star cNed

Natus Vincere announced that it has parted ways with former VALORANT Champion Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek, who was part of the second team in VALORANT division of NAVI, announced in 2022.

NAVI part ways with cNed

The Turkish player, who started his VALORANT career with the game's release, attracted attention with his performance in BBL Esports, one of the most prominent teams in his country. cNed, who quickly rose to fame, first made waves in the Turkish VALORANT circuit before making a significant impact in Europe. He became increasingly popular with his fast, agile, and distinctive Jett gameplay and made his way to Europe.

For a short time, he continued to show himself in unorganized European mixed teams. At the beginning of 2021, he joined Raise Your Edge Gaming. After 2 months at Raise Your Edge Gaming, he signed with Acend, which acquired the entire team, where he would see the peak of his career.

In 1 and a half years at Acend, he first became the VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - Europe Masters Champion. He was even named the Tournament MVP in the same tournament. Then, at VALORANT Champions 2021, VALORANT's first Major tournament, he and his team won the Championship and the prestigious trophy.

With the Champions title, the 21-year-old's career took off. By 2022, cNed and his team Acend were nowhere to be found in the EMEA Stage Challengers. After finishing last in the VCT 2022: EMEA Last Chance Qualifier, their last chance for a VALORANT Champions 2022 ticket, Acend, the previous year's Champions, couldn't even qualify for the tournament in 2022. After these results, the team slowly began to fall. At the end of 2022, cNed left the team and said goodbye to the former Champions winners.

After leaving Acend, he joined NAVI's strong lineup with ANGE1, SUYFETSU, Shao and Zyppan. The roster looked so strong that the VALORANT community now saw NAVI as the favorite in the region. They performed decently in the first big tournament of the year, VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, but finished in 3-4th place. Then cNed and his team finished in 4th place in the VCT 2023: EMEA League. At VALORANT Champions 2023, NAVI had a mediocre showing, failing to even make it out of the groups and finishing 9-12th in the world championship.

Rumors had been circulating for some time regarding cNed's future with NAVI, and today, the organization officially confirmed his departure. The announcement has left fans speculating about who will fill the void left by the departure of this seasoned player. It is not yet known who NAVI will replace cNed with. However, it seems that they need a player of cNed's level for the team to recover.

NAVI now have:

• Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow
• Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky
• Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin
• Pontus "Zyppan" Eek
• Erik "d00mbr0s" Sandgren (Head Coach)
• Oliwer "LATEKS" Fahlander (Assistant Coach)
• Valeriia "LERA_X" Khegai (Manager)